World's 10 most iconic kiss locales

The saying goes "A kiss is just a kiss"... or is it? Inspired by Valentine's Day, the travel experts at Cheapflights.ca went in search of the most memorable kisses ever and came up with a list of top 10 iconic kiss locales. Text by Cheapflights.ca.

Buckingham Palace, London: Prince William and Catherine Middleton sealed their nuptials with not one, but two smooches on the Buckingham Palace balcony in front of a group of more than 500,000 onlookers and millions of TV viewers. The kisses followed the couple's elaborate ceremony at Westminster Abbey. After a quick first kiss, the cheering crowd convinced the Prince to go in for a second (and longer) smooch. The balcony also served as the setting for an earlier royal post-wedding peck between Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1981. (Fotolia)

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Halona Cove, Hawaii: Halona Cove, a small beach close to Hanauma Bay on the southeastern shore of Oahu, played host to the memorable lip lock between Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in the 1953 film From Here to Eternity. The actors, who portray First Sergeant Milton Warden and Karen Holmes in the movie - lovers involved in an adulterous relationship - are featured consumed by their kiss while rolling around in the waves of the Hawaiian beach. (Fotolia)

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Victory-over-Japan Day kiss, Times Square, New York City: This kiss amid the post-war daytime commotion of Times Square has stolen the hearts of hopeless romantics around the world. The true story behind the featured kissers - Navy quartermaster George Mendonsa and dental assistant Greta Zimmer - isn't exactly one of romance, but more of impulsive celebration. Yet, that doesn't seem to steal any thunder from this patriotic peck - an image of all-American love that offered an extreme contrast to the violence of war. The photo was originally captured by Alfred Eisenstaedt on August 14, 1945 - the day Japan surrendered, effectively ending World War II. (Alfred Eisenstaedt)

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The Kiss by Gustav Klimt, Belvedere Palace Museum, Vienna: At the Belvedere Palace Museum in Vienna, Austria, rests what is often considered to be the best painting - and perhaps the best fictional kiss - in the world: Gustav Klimt's, The Kiss. Klimt created the piece in the early 1900s, embellishing the embrace with gold leaf, a trademark of his work during that time. There, in Austria's capital - "The City of Dreams"¯ - these two-dimensional lovers seem to become one, as the male kisses the female on the cheek.

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The Kiss by Rodin, Rodin Museum, Paris: The romantic work of art by Auguste Rodin is on display in The Rodin Museum, which features a rose garden on its grounds. The piece depicts an almost-kiss between two literary secret lovers, Francesca and Paolo, originally portrayed in Dante Alighieri's Inferno. As the story goes, the couple was about to exchange a first kiss when Paolo was killed by Francesca's husband - who was also his older brother.

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Verona, Italy: A balcony situated in Verona, Italy, is the setting where Romeo and Juliet - Shakespeare's two famed, fictional star-crossed lovers - stole a kiss and sweet words behind the backs of their feuding families. There is an actual balcony here that's widely thought to be the imagined setting for perhaps the most well known scene from this love story. In reality, the balcony is part of a former inn called Casa i Giulietta, or Juliet's House, where the Cappello family used to live; the Cappellos are the supposed inspiration for the Capulets in Shakespeare's tale. (Fotolia)

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"The Kissing Couple," Vancouver riots following the Stanley Cup finals: As the dust settled following the riots that took place in Vancouver after the 2011 Stanley Cup finals, a photo began circulating of Australian Scott Jones and his Canadian girlfriend Alex Thomas kissing in the street amid the chaos of the night. The kiss from Jones was meant to comfort a distraught Thomas after the pair got caught up in police activity as the city's streets were being cleared. Unbeknownst to Jones and Thomas, their intimate moment was captured on camera and almost immediately emerged as a moment of love against the backdrop of a tumultuous night in Vancouver. (Getty Images/Rich Lam)

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Pattaya, Thailand: If the length of a kiss is any indication of good love, then Nontawat Jaroegenasornsin and his partner Thanakorn Sittiamthong have something great. Last Valentine's Day, the couple executed the longest continuous kiss ever recorded at a competition in Pattaya, Thailand, breaking the previous Guinness World Record by more than four hours. (Fotolia)

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The Kiss by the Hotel de Ville by Robert Doisneau, Paris: This 1950 photo of a couple kissing outside the Hotel de Ville in Paris has often stood out as the epitome of Parisian romance. Taken by French photographer Robert Doisneau, the image features Francoise Bornet and Jacques Carteaud locked in a casual, yet sensual kiss outside the hotel. Known for depicting everyday life in Paris in his photos, Doisneau has admitted to staging this particular kiss after seeing the couple's actual kiss moments beforehand, but Bornet maintains the emotion behind the kiss was real even if the photo was a reenactment. (Robert Doisneau)

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Bowen, Australia: There's more than one memorable lip-lock between Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman in the 2008 film Australia (which was shot entirely on location in Australia). The steamy kisses between the English aristocrat (Kidman) and the rough-and-tough stockman (Jackman) are amplified by the Australian scenery. One of the primary filming locations, Bowen, is located on the northeast coast of Australia and is known for its successful farming industry - a perfect setting for this World War II-era story and the untamed love scenes that unfold. (Courtesy 20th Century Fox)

Buckingham Palace, London: Prince William and Catherine Middleton sealed their nuptials with not one, but two smooches on the Buckingham Palace balcony in front of a group of more than 500,000 onlookers and millions of TV viewers. The kisses followed the couple's elaborate ceremony at Westminster Abbey. After a quick first kiss, the cheering crowd convinced the Prince to go in for a second (and longer) smooch. The balcony also served as the setting for an earlier royal post-wedding peck between Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1981. (Fotolia)